Chapter 14

There was no response, but there was heavy breathing. "Excuse me, what's the matter?" Wendy had already sorted out her desk, she was ready to pack her things and go home. "The South Bay budget in the morning hasn't been reported yet. Did the Finance Department teach you to stop halfway?" There was a thick nasal voice on the other side, it had a feeling of indifference to it despite the ruggedness. After speaking, he hung up the phone neatly. The hand that was holding the phone went stiff and her face was a little red. It sounded like he had a stuffed nose, but there was no mistaking it, that was the president calling. If her memory served her right, Director Yang told her not to continue to report. She must have informed her, but not the president As a newcomer, she hasn't made any serious mistakes. However, she was afraid that the South Bay project was important enough for him to despite being sick. Wendy rushed over to the elevators and went up to the sixty-sixth floor. She took a deep breath and opened the door to the president's office. As soon as she opened the door, she caught a strange but familiar scent filling the luxurious office. Wendy looked at his desk and she was speechless. There was a cup of instant noodles on his desk. It looks like it has been there for a while, there was no steam coming out of the cup. The president ate a cup of instant noodles. She never thought it was possible. Wendy walked over and bowed to him. "President Lu." Wendy was thinking about how to explain. She didn't want to hurt Director Yang's image by blaming her but she didn't want to take the blame either. Before she could say anything, the man was already frowning and he broke the silence by asking, "Do you know how to make instant noodles?" Wendy nodded honestly. "Yes." "I cooked spicy noodles." He pointed his finger towards the break room and he ordered her in an exhausted tone, "Make me another one." She went over to the break room and opened a few cupboards. She saw endless packs and cups of spicy beef noodles. She had a deadpan look on her face when she saw all the spicy noodles. She then informed him, "President Lu, I'll be right back." She went out and came back with two packs of chicken noodle soup. As soon as Wendy walked back to his office, she heard the president talking with an old woman on the phone. "Tobias, did you catch a cold? Did you take any medicine?" His voice had a nasal tone as he replied, "No." "Why don't you take medicine then?" The office was quiet for a long time before the man's dull voice came, "The medicine in the office has run out. Grandma, I'm a little dizzy and I'm all alone tonight." His last sentence had a tone of dissatisfaction and it was easily heard. Wendy pursed her lips slightly. They talked a little more, his grandmother wanted to come over to take care of her grandson. Tobias talked to his grandmother absentmindedly, while staring straight at the slim figure outside his office from the security camera. Tobias raised his eyebrows when he saw her leave, and he said lightly to his grandmother, "Grandma, don't come over. I feel a lot better now. I'm hanging up, bye." His grandmother wasn't able to reply for a few seconds. She heard his voice become more vibrant and lively, but he still had his usual tone of indifference. "But Tobias—" When she finally came back to her senses she saw that he already hung up the call. He looked at the cup of spicy noodles he made, he took it and dumped it in the trash bin under his desk. He thought he was able to close the distance with her, just a little bit Meanwhile in a large estate, Grandma Lu felt very depressed after he hung up. She wasn't in the mood to write calligraphy anymore, so she put the paper and the brush away. A man was watching her pace back and forth in the study, so he gave her a blank stare and said, "Tobias has always been like day and night. I don't even know why you care for him so much." "No, Tobias was really ill just now, he said, 'Grandma, I'm a little dizzy' with a stuffy nose." Grandma Lu was anxious, and she lowered her voice to imitate her grandson's words. From her point of view, he thought that her grandson was asking for help. She almost cried tears of joy, she couldn't remember the last time he depended on her. Grandpa Lu sneered, "Didn't he say that he didn't want you to go there? He knows you're just going to make his cold worse." Grandma Lu became upset, she immediately turned around in anger and slammed the door and left while saying, "Don't sleep next to me tonight!" After hearing Tobias' words, she thought about it twice for a few seconds and then she immediately went downstairs to buy some medicine. She went to the closest pharmacy and then went back to the sixty-sixth floor. When she opened the door to take a peek, there was no one at the desk. Wendy thought about it for a while. She entered the office and sure enough he was resting on the couch. He was lying slantingly on it, as if he had mustered all his strength to walk over only to collapse at the last second. One arm covered his eyes and his lips had an unhappy frown. He looked uncomfortable, his lips were chapped and his cheeks were red. Wendy wanted to leave him there, but she remembered what he said earlier and she couldn't help but feel pity.